New Housing Bill/FHA Loans

[Greg Bell]

Okay, but I can't imagine that the job requirements for the Chief Appraiser of an HOC do not include meeting the licensing and other qualifications required to appraiser FHA properties.

V.A. Does not require licensing for appraisal reviews.Most government agencies do not require a license , believe it or not.

 

[Brad Pack]

Okay, but I can't imagine that the job requirements for the Chief Appraiser of an HOC do not include meeting the licensing and other qualifications required to appraiser FHA properties.

Technically the position is Chief of Technical Support. It includes a variety of responsibilities that go beyond mere appraisal oversight. I'm still waiting for you or anyone else to name a certfied or designated appraiser whose FHA appraisal credentials meet or exceed mine.

 

[CANative]

Thanks for your service Brad.

 

[Brad Pack]

Thanks for your service Brad.

Greg -

You were licensed for many years before you became certified. Did the certification somehow magically improve your appraisal abilities or was it the years of experience you achieved as a licensed appraiser? I'm curious.

 

[Scott R Marshall]

I'm not sure if this has been resolved yet or even if it pertains to us or but the I.R.S had similar wording in notice 2006-96 regarding appraisals of non-cash charitable contributions and §*170(f)(11)(E)(ii)(I) of the In "f" ernal revenue code stating "appraisal designation from a recognized professional appraisal organization” is required to do I.R.S. appraisals of this type. I am not sure if this is applicable to the situation we now face with FHA but according to the notice, the I.R.S. was seeking further clarification of the statement "appraisal designation from a recognized professional appraisal organization" back in November of 2006. I couldn't find any resloution of this issue but my searching was by no means exhaustive. If there has been clarification though, this may very well be the route FHA goes.

 

[Brad Pack]

Last year this time I stopped doing Appraisals to chart my path to Certification. 1 because it was cost effective for me to take the courses and the exam before 2008. It is going to cost someone significantly more to become Certified under the new Requirements. 2) Another appraiser called me and asked me this question. What are you going to do if All Lenders woke up one morning and said We only want Certified Appraisers now?

Having said that I think everyone who is just merely Licensed should really begin to do whatever it takes to get Certified. Afterall this legislation may be the writing on the wall. Maybe I am wrong but do you want to continue to hope lenders never require this. Again I am not bashing Licensed Appraisers I just hate to see someone thrown to the wolves in a blink of an eye.

Just my 2 Cents

What would you do if the lenders or politicians woke up one morning and decided one must have a "general" certification or a designation from one particular appraisal organization? Think about it...

I absolutely despise baseless discrimination, as I'm sure you do.

 

[CANative]

I couldn't wait to get that "R" in my license and I think my certification was only delayed by the minimum number of months required. I did not magically become a better appraiser unless that might mean taking the certification seriously and spending enormous amounts of time reading, taking classes and trying to put out better reports. I felt a responsibility to do the work of a certified appraiser even if I probably wasn't ready.

I think for the most part the only motivation to go from licensed to certified was the $1,000,000 limit on transaction value. Appraisers who work in areas where that type of transaction is rare were probably content to stay at the licensed level. My brother has the same problem as you Brad. He's been a licensed appraiser for 18 years and when he tried to upgrade a few years ago was told that some of his basic courses were correspondence and didn't quality. He would have had to taken almost 90 hours of bonehead classes after 15 years of practice.

On state and federal paper your qualifications consist of taking some basic education, passing a trainee test and appraising non-complex property under supervision. On paper I have completed the additional experience, course work and state examinations needed to certify that I can appraise any residential property without regard to complexity or transaction value.

Yet look at the real life difference between you and I. It's just too weird. How did it get this way?

 

[Brad Pack]

I couldn't wait to get that "R" in my license and I think my certification was only delayed by the minimum number of months required. I did not magically become a better appraiser unless that might mean taking the certification seriously and spending enormous amounts of time reading, taking classes and trying to put out better reports. I felt a responsibility to do the work of a certified appraiser even if I probably wasn't ready.

I think for the most part the only motivation to go from licensed to certified was the $1,000,000 limit on transaction value. Appraisers who work in areas where that type of transaction is rare were probably content to stay at the licensed level. My brother has the same problem as you Brad. He's been a licensed appraiser for 18 years and when he tried to upgrade a few years ago was told that some of his basic courses were correspondence and didn't quality. He would have had to taken almost 90 hours of bonehead classes after 15 years of practice.

On state and federal paper your qualifications consist of taking some basic education, passing a trainee test and appraising non-complex property under supervision. On paper I have completed the additional experience, course work and state examinations needed to certify that I can appraise any residential property without regard to complexity or transaction value.

Yet look at the real life difference between you and I. It's just too weird. How did it get this way?

I'll wait to see the Department's interpretation of the law before I comment. I'm done with this thread for now.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

Changing focus of the thread somewhat:

This Bill is based upon voluntary participation by lenders, who could be required to forgive 50% or more of the outstanding loan balance. Is there any insight into whether lenders will be prone to participate? If so, will the lenders order the appraisals? Will a FHA Case# be assigned?

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

This Bill is based upon voluntary participation by lenders, who could be required to forgive 50% or more of the outstanding loan balance. Is there any insight into whether lenders will be prone to participate?

That's a big question mark so far. I don't know how many people will actually get these things done, especially if by having a second mortgage, a borrower may not qualify for the program. It seems like most homeowners who are seriously underwater bought their homes, (or did cash-out refis), with an 80% first and a 20% second. They may not be able to participate in the program, or their existing lender may not want to go along.